Madeleine pans are used to make small French cakes with a scalloped shape. They can also be used for other desserts. The batter is loaded into the shell-shaped depressions and baked to create the distinctive shape. Madeleines are named after a French pastry chef and were popularized by Marcel Proust. The pans should be sturdy and nonstick, and easy to wash. Silicone pans are a novel solution but may affect the crispy golden crust.
Madeleine pans are pans specially designed for the production of madeleines, small French cakes with a classic scalloped shape. The pans can also be used to prepare other small desserts, and although they are a special dish, they can be very useful. Many kitchen supply stores stock madeleine pans, often with nonstick coatings for convenience.
A madeleine pan looks like a baking sheet with a series of seashell-shaped depressions. The batter for the madeleines is loaded into the depressions and during the baking process it spreads and puffs up, creating a distinctive shell-shaped cake. Madeleines are often designed to be eaten like biscuits and can be found at many tea parties and formal dinners. Strictly speaking, they don’t have to be shell-shaped, but since this shape is traditional, it’s the most common shape for madeleines.
The madeleines are believed to have been named for Madeleine Palmier, who is said to have been a superb French pastry chef. Apparently Palmier developed the little pies and the food became quite popular. Delicate butter cakes were further popularized in the writings of Marcel Proust, a famous French author.
Madeleine batter is essentially sponge cake batter. As a result, small cakes can be quite tough. For this reason, most bakers oil and bake their madeleine pans, to encourage the cakes to slide out once the baking process is complete. Many bakers also perfect a firm tap on the counter to release the madeleines’ grip on the pan. Modern nonstick pans can also be used to make madeleine pans, although the batter may still stick.
When selecting Madeleine pans, look for sturdy pans that will stand up to heavy use. Nonstick pans will also need to be rapped to release the madeleines, so you should be able to bang the pan sharply against a counter without denting or warping it. Some companies also make silicone madeleine pans, which are a novel solution to the sticking problem since they can be turned inside out to release the cakes. However, madeleines may fail to develop their perfect crispy golden crust when baked in silicone, so you need to decide how important that crust is to you. The pan should also be easy to wash and ideally dishwasher safe, as the dishwasher’s high-powered spray can penetrate deep into the pan’s scallops and remove residue left over from cooking.
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